3,800 miles on the new bike and my observations of crappy drivers. And a poll!!! [View all]

[Glassunion]

My wife and I joke a lot about who is the better driver... Men or Women? So after having two close calls just riding the bike the 30 miles home from the dealership, she suggested that I keep track of who is trying to kill me. So I did. The result... EVERY DEMOGRAPHIC IS TRYING TO F****NG KILL ME!!! Kidding... I commute every day on the bike, so I have had to share the road with probably tens of thousands of drivers, who are overall quite nice and attentive.

Every night I would record if anyone tried to kill me. Now when I say "tried to kill me", I do not mean by any measure that they intended me harm, but if the two of us failed to act and continued on our merry way, I'd be a stain on the pavement. I am by far not the best driver in the world, but I do pay attention.

At my wife's suggestion, I started keeping track of each of the incidents in a spreadsheet.

For science, I grouped all of the categories, keeping track of the following (if possible): Sex, Age Group (my best guess), Vehicle Type, and Incident Type.
Sex = Either male or female
Age Group = New drivers (teens-24), young adult (25-30), adult (31-60), and seniors (61+)
Vehicle = Motorcycle, car, truck, SUV, mini-van, van, and semi trucks
Incident (from less severe to most) = Tailgating, failing to yield right of way, merging into my space, and what I call "intentional hate"

Results of the 30 incidents where I was able to gather all of the information...
My wife is right, women are better drivers: 13 compared to 17 incidents by males.
Age groupings, young adults seem to cause the fewest problems only accounting for 5 incidents. New divers were the worst at 11.
Vehicles, cars are the worst accounting for 13 incidents, with Vans and Trucks only accounting for 1 each.
Incidents, most common was failing to yield the right of way accounting for 16 followed closely by 11 tailgaters, the least common (thankfully) was intentional hate coming in with only 1 incident.

Here is the breakdown...
Male / Teen / Car / Tailgating = 1
Male / Teen / Car / Failing to Yield = 3
Male / Teen / Car / Merging Into = 1
Male / Teen / SUV / Tailgating = 1
Male / Teen / Mini-Van / Failing to Yield = 1
Male / Young Adult / Car / Tailgating = 1
Male / Young Adult / SUV / Failing to Yield = 1
Male / Young Adult / Semi / Failing To Yield = 1
Male / Adult / SUV / Failing to Yield = 1
Male / Adult / Mini - Van / Failing to Yield = 1
Male / Adult / Semi / Failing to Yield = 1
Male / Senior / Car / Tailgating = 1
Male / Senior / Truck / Failing to Yield = 1
Male / Senior / SUV / Failing to Yield = 1
Male / Senior / Van / Failing to Yield = 1

Female / Teen / Car / Tailgating = 3
Female / Teen / Car / Failing to Yield = 1
Female / Young Adult / Mini - Van / Tailgating = 2
Female / Adult / Car / Tailgating = 1
Female / Adult / Car / Intentional Hate = 1
Female / Adult / SUV / Failing to Yield = 1
Female / Adult / Mini - Van / Failing to Yield = 2
Female / Senior / Car / Tailgating = 1
Female / Senior / SUV / Merging Into = 1

Here are some of the anecdotal notes I have:
Male / Teen / Car / Merging Into - Was two cars behind, did not see me occupying the space in front of the car in front of him, decided to whip around the vehicle behind me by heading into the oncoming lane, only to be surprised by my presence. Then proceeded to force me to back up to the car behind so he could get out of the oncoming lane... Had a Coexist bumper sticker. Oh the irony.

Female / Adult / SUV / Failing to Yield - Traveling at 50 on back country road, pulled out right in front of me. Had to swerve into oncoming lane (Thankfully no traffic.) to avoid, flew right past her... She never saw me as she turned into my path, as I passed, she was so startled she dropped her phone.

Male / Teen / SUV / Tailgating - Dumb-ass hit me. No damage to bike. Dad is gonna be pissed when kid has to explain why the front plate on the Land Rover was ripped off.

Female / Senior / SUV / Merging Into - She did not hear the horn, but the kick to the passenger door worked.

Male / Teen / Car / Failing to Yield - If you are going to cut me off by pulling right out in front of me, don't stop once you see me, because not only are you in front of me, but now I have to stop in a much shorter distance.

Female / Teen / Car / Tailgating - half a car length... In the pouring rain... At 45mph... In a 45mph zone... Really?

Male / Young Adult / Semi / Failing To Yield - he had to get around the mower so bad... could not wait for me to pass... But I did get to ride on the sidewalk. That was kinda neat.

Female / Adult / Car / Intentional Hate - I don't like what she did, but I'm ashamed of what I said.

I commute daily on the bike, and I get to ride some of the really congested areas north of Philly, Central New Jersey and Upstate NY as well as some really beautiful back country areas.

Where do you ride and how are the other motorists in your area?

7 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	The drivers in my area are great, I never really have any problems.
	0 (0%)
	The drivers in my area are ok, I rarely have any problems.
	1 (14%)
	The drivers in my area are mediocre, I have occasional problems.
	3 (43%)
	The drivers in my area are bad, I have lots of problems.
	2 (29%)
	The drivers in my area get paid to try and kill me.
	1 (14%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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